"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul . . ." ~Emily Dickinson

14 January 2010

Seeing Humanity

Sawubona is one of the greetings in South Africa. It's a sibling of our hello, hey, yo! And it's so much more than that. This Zulu term literally means, "we see you." The response is Yebo, sawubona: we see you, too.

Imagine the freedom we might experience in this world if we were to really see each other—with our eyes, our hearts. Might we dismiss each other less? Judge each other less? Pay more attention to those who take our money at a coffee shop, hold cardboard pleas on the roadside, teach our children? Or even those who live in our neighborhoods and homes—those who some of us only pretend to see?

I came across this free online magazine Humanistic Report, and I like that their mission seems simple: tell the stories and show the images that might help people see each other.

May we all see both the heartbreak, healing and happiness happening in our midsts and in places we may never visit in the world. And may we recognize it all as humanity.

p.s. i was originally drawn to this 'zine because the first issue features children from Burma. they were likely all born into war and fear. and yet they look like students of joy and peace to me. i hope . . .